Sustainability

We strongly believe that cycling is both a healthy and environmentally friendly activity.  As manufacturers of cycling gear we certainly do not want to be hypocritical and add to the world’s environmental problems.  That is why we have a number of initiatives to reduce our environmental impacts.

1% for the Planet

We are proud to announce that we are a member of the 1% for the Planet initiative.  This means that every time you purchase from us, we will donate 1% of the order value to vetted environmental nonprofits.  For us this was an absolute no brainer and one of the keys for joining is that all donations are certified by the initiative and go directly to the grassroots causes to maximise impact.  

This year, we are donating to local envionmental charities that also have a connection to cycling.  These include Friends of the Earth in the UK, and Climateride.org in the US.  We are also contributing to the relief efforts of the ongoing war in Ukraine through the Save the Children Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund.  

You can get involved with what organisations you think deserves your donation.  Check out the the list of organisations in the directory and tell us by emailing info@craftcadence.com what worthy causes you believe your contribution should go towards.  We would love to hear from you.

What is 1% for the Planet

1% For the Planet is an organisation created by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, and Craig Mathews, founder of Blue Ribbon Flies to raise awareness and build a scalable system for environmental giving.  Since inception, it has made a difference, certifying more than $225 million in donations to approved environmental and social nonprofits.  

We have committed to donating 1% of our annual sales to a vetted list of nonprofits that are working at the grassroots level. These organations work on a range of environmental and social issues such climate, food, land, pollution, water and wildlife.

Through the initiative, brands like us can make a positive impact and give back - what we should be doing.  

Sustainable Materials

Craft Cadence is proud to be amongst brands that are taking lead on environmentally friendly materials for cycling gear. According to the UN, the fashion industry contributes to 20% of global wastewater and 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than both aviation and shipping combined. The cycling industry is not immune to these environmental impacts as the fabrics are often made from highly complex processes using man-made fibres.  

In 2021, we began to roll out our range of cycling jerseys from waste recycled PET bottles.  We quickly realised that whilst “recycled content” was readily available, most could not provide any data on the source of waste materials nor environmental impact savings compared to virgin materials.  To this end, we reached out to the Textile Exchange, a non-profit organisation that oversees the Global Recycled Standard (GRS). The GRS establishes requirements for certification of recycled content, chain of custody, social and environmental practices and chemical restrictions, and whose environmental impacts can be calculated using a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

Through the Textiles Exchange, we worked with suppliers that had their fabrics fully certified under the GRS, with verified composition of 83% recycled polyester (from post consumer plastic bottles) and 17% virgin elastane for the main material of the jersey, and 100% recycled polyester for the back pockets of the jersey.

Product Take Back

All Craft Cadence customers who would like to dispose their bags will be able to send them back to us for a heavily discounted voucher, and we will refurbish the product and resell to give them a new lease of life.  We may make a loss but it’s still the right thing to do.  This means no bags will ever have to end up in landfill and can be reused over and over again.